


An Ordinary Morning in the Holmes Household

by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel



Category: Sherlock Holmes (2009), Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
Genre: Crack, Gen, Pre-Movies, young!Holmes brothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-01
Updated: 2012-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-30 10:58:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/331004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel/pseuds/TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mycroft would like cake for breakfast, Sherlock is not supposed to conduct experiments at the breakfast table, and their father's latest invention is proving to be challenging.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Ordinary Morning in the Holmes Household

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse, except that I love Mycroft, and the family interactions in Sherlock Holmes 2 were frankly hilarious.

  


**An Ordinary Morning in the Holmes Household**

It wasn’t every day that Mycroft came downstairs to find his younger brother conducting experiments at the breakfast table, but it happened often enough that Mycroft was never surprised.

“Sherley, what are you doing?” Mycroft asked, peering at his brother.

Part of the dining table had been taken over by colourful vials and tubes of bubbling things, decidedly dubious in nature, and Sherlock was attending to them while he ate breakfast absent-mindedly with his free hand.

“You know that I fully support the development of a questioning mind and the spirit of scientific inquiry, but please, not at the breakfast table. As Mummy always says, the purpose of the dining table is dining, not learning.”

Mycroft paused to admire the excellent breakfast that Stanley was setting out before him.

“Mummy also says that a gentleman must always be clothed unless alone in their private residence,” Sherlock said, fork suspended in midair as he carefully added three drops of something to something else, which immediately fizzled inside its beaker.

“Nevertheless, I find the sight of your investigations during mealtimes puts me off my food,” Mycroft complained. “Stanley, do we still have any of that marvellous cake left? I’m sure that it would accompany this excellently.”

“My dear Mycroft, I have yet to see anything that successfully puts you off your food,” Sherlock remarked. “And I cannot help feeling that it would be a good thing for you if I did, because you’re getting quite fat.”

“I’m afraid, Master Mycroft, that you ate the last of the cake early this morning,” Stanley said sourly.

“Really?” Mycroft looked a little crestfallen. “Oh, well. Thank you, Stanley. Do pass my compliments on to Mrs Fielding. The cake really was delicious.”

“Feeling peckish in the night again?” Sherlock asked, grinning. “Mummy was saving that cake for the Politically-Minded Ladies meeting this evening.”

“Was she?” Mycroft asked, surprised. “I don’t recall.”

“That is because you heard the word ‘cake,’ dear brother, and any lesser matters faded into insignificant next to the promptings of your stomach.”

“Now, Sherley –”

The house was rocked by an explosion.

Crockery rattled and furniture shook from the effects of the blast. Mycroft thoughtfully helped himself to more food from the tea trolley as it rolled past him, while Sherlock cursed in language most unsuitable for a boy his age as several beakers and glass tubes broke or toppled off the table.

A few minutes later a tall man in a smart suit walking into the breakfast parlour. He would have been impeccably dressed, except for the fact that half his clothing and his face were blackened by soot, and his hair was standing in all directions.

“Good morning, boys!” he called jovially. “Morning, Stanley.”

“Your latest invention not a success, Father?” Mycroft inquired.

“Oooh, well, I wouldn’t say that, exactly,” Sherringford Holmes temporized. “More that it’s proving to be interesting in ways I hadn’t anticipated. Sherlock, what has your mother told you, hmm? No experiments in the dining room or the parlour. Now, clean that up and put it away before she gets back, there’s a good lad.”

“You are all stifling my creativity and boundless intelligence,” Sherlock said sulkily, but he began dismantling his equipment.

“Thank you, dear boy. You know how your mother gets upset about these things.”

“She is of a delicate disposition,” Mycroft agreed. “Why, I still remember how upset she became when she found that Sherlock was using the maid as a subject for his anatomy studies. And she still insists that I wear trousers at all times unless I’m situated in my own bedroom.”

Mycroft and Sherringford shook their heads at the peculiarities of women.

“Well, we all have our quirks,” Sherringford remarked. “Sherlock, I believe that the green substance is eating through the carpet, and is the source of that rather appalling odour.”

“If the explosion hadn’t shaken everything, it wouldn’t _be_ on the carpet,” Sherlock muttered, just loud enough for his father and brother to hear him.

Mycroft exchanged tolerant glances with his father. Such a high-spirited child, Sherlock. He could be a little difficult sometimes.

“These things happen,” Sherringford chided. “You should never allow the possibility of unexpected events or chaos to impede the curious mind, Sherlock. Remember that. A truly inspired mind is capable of working around such mild setbacks, my son. You must learn to work _with_ the explosions, not against them. Why, if it weren’t for the explosion, you might never have known that when contaminated with the purple goop, the green fluid becomes corrosive, isn’t that so?”

“Perhaps, Father,” Sherlock conceded, looking marginally less mutinous.

“See? The potential for discovery lies everywhere.” Sherringford frowned at his breakfast. “Stanley, why are there no eggs?”

“I’m afraid that Master Mycroft ate them all, sir.”

“Well. Have some more cooked up, there’s a good man.”

“Yes, sir,” Stanley agreed, and left the room.

All in all, it was an ordinary morning in the Holmes household.

  



End file.
